Oregon Family Christmas

Every year we celebrate with my mom's family. We call it the Rise Christmas. All of the Springfield families travel up to the Portland area every year, so this year we traveled South to Springfield to Uncle Jim and Aunt Kathy's house. It was a house full of fam and we had a great time. The kids were on the go most of the time so I only snapped a few pics. We had a great time and love seeing all of the cousins together.

On our way back to Scappoose, we stopped in Salem to visit the Greers. They have two boys so it was fun to see what the girls played with in a house full of boys. Nerf guns, target practice, swords, bow and arrows, bunk beds, legos and finally settled down in their jammies for a movie. It was the perfect way to end our fun day!

Pa and his Girls

Sleepover Fun & Cousin Playdate

When we were up in Oregon my brother and Rach asked the girls to stay all night at their house. The girls have only had a handful of sleepovers so we were unsure if it would work but they said they wanted to stay and they did! We all went to dinner at Red Robin, then Uncle Jos and Aunt Rach took the girls to see Frozen. They had a great time and sent us a text right before bed. That is usually a sign that we are going to get the call to come pick them up, but that was not the case. They stayed all night and can't wait until the next time. My brother and Rach live in a beautiful home and the girls love going to their house. They think it is just like a hotel! Here are a few pics from their fun night. Thinks Uncle Jos and Aunt Rach!!

We also got to spend time with my cousin Kristen and her kiddos. She just had her 5th baby so it is a crazy party when we get together. 7 kids 6 and under is a little crazy. They sang us songs, Kristen painted faces, played with all kinds of toys, jumped on the bunk beds and the girls got to snuggle with the newest addition to the Stoddard clan. We had lots of fun!

My little brother was home from school on Winter Break so he had his son at home, so the girls had fun playing with little Emmett. They liked helping out with the "little one". Paige doesn't realize he is only a year younger than her! We always have lots of fun when we are in Oregon and the visits are never long enough! 

Christmas 2013

The girls love everything about the holiday season and were super excited for Santa to come. But I am a little sad that Allison did not sit on Santa’s lap this year. Paige got to see him a school and when I asked Allie about going to sit on his lap she got quiet.  She didn’t really say no or yes, just didn’t really answer me. Every year we go to Santa’s Secret Adventure and love it, but with Thanksgiving being late this year, I did not get tickets early like I usually do. I was feeling bad about it until I had this conversation with Allie.

I said "So Als will you be totally disappointed if we don’t go to Santa’s Secret Adventure this year?" and she got quiet again and said "Well Mom,  I really don’t want to hurt your feelings", and my heart sank. Our neighbor girls told her Santa was not real, and I thought we were already past this, and that she knows, and we all know, that HE IS REAL. So I listened as she went on…."You know Mom, the Santa at malls and Santa’s Secret Adventure are all kinda weird" I said "What do you mean?" She ran over to our collection of Santa pictures and said "See Mom, these are all different, and weird and they are just his helpers. Santa has to stay at the North Pole and get ready to deliver presents." Whew….I was holding my breath, and let out a huge sigh of relief that my girl still believes. PTL!! So I said "Well yes, that would be a big job so those helpers all report to him." Oh I would just love to be in her little brain for a day! Paige did get to see him, and loved it at her pre school, so she did not care if we missed Santa's Secret Adventure this year either! When we look back at our Santa pictures, that is why we don’t have a 2013 Santa pic of both girls. Next year we will try again!

Even though Als did not want to sit on a "helper Santa’s" lap, she was super excited for him to come. Paige was very excited and just couldn't beleive he was really going to come and bring her what she asked for. Allie woke up first, and then we went in to wake up Paige. She was tired from the full day before and did not want to get up. But then she did after a few minutes of prompting, and was super excited to see if Santa really brought her Monkey Fur Real Friend and her Mermaid Tail (swim fin). 

He did not disappoint. He filled their stockings, ate all of the cookies, drank his milk, and Bo and Holly left a note. He also brought the American Girl Doll, Caroline Abbott (or Habit as she calls her) for Paige. Allison also got an American Girl Doll, Saige, The Barbie Sets she was asking for, Lego Friends sets, and the “Christmas Tea Set” for her dolls, that she added to her list last week :o)

Allison is beaming with excitement as I am getting ready to open the gifts from her and Paige. They went to Michael's with Geoff and each got to pick out a fancy bracelet to give me. Allie wrapped it all by herself and was very proud!

Paige is super excited about her monkey Cuddles. She saw her on TV back in October and has wanted her since that day. She has talked about her non-stop and is happy to have her. She is like a real monkey and Paige can take care of her.

We had a great morning with Grandma and Paka here to watch the girls open. After opening gifts we headed a few blocks over to Grandma and Paka’s for Christmas lunch. We were flying out to Oregon and Jennifer and Timi were flying to Disneyland so we had a nice family dinner and opened gifts together. We flew to Portland in the evening so we could spend Christmas evening with my family.

When we got to Scappoose, Emmett was there and the girls enjoyed feeding him and "taking care of the little one." We opened gifts with Grandma, Pa, Jo-Jo and Emmett and then opened gifts the next day with Uncle Jos, Aunt Rach, Gramps and Uncle Dave. We had a wonderful Christmas and are very blessed.